


Unexpected But Not Unwelcome

by CatrinaSL



Series: 100 Ways to Say I Love You [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 100 ways to say i love you, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Love Triangles, Misunderstandings, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Scientist Wrangler Darcy Lewis, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-03-29 20:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13934463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatrinaSL/pseuds/CatrinaSL
Summary: Darcy is an unexpected presence in Tony's life. But that doesn't mean she's unwelcome.





	1. Good Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Tony breaks Jane's stuff, his good intentions may be worthless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 22\. “It’s not heavy. I’m stronger than I look.”

Tony glanced up when Darcy staggered into his lab with a huge piece of Jane’s equipment. She crashed it down onto the lab table that had been cleared for that purpose.

“Jane’ll be up in a minute,” she told him, and headed back to the elevator for another.

Tony made a noise of acknowledgement and watched Darcy heft another doohickey from the elevator to the lab table.

“You could have called someone to get you a cart or something,” he volunteered. “Or I have employees… or bots, that could carry some of that for you.”

“Nah,” Darcy replied, going back for a third science machine. “It’s kind of delicate, and if it fell off the cart or somebody besides me dropped and broke it, Jane would explode in a big fiery ball that would be visible from space.”

Tony looked unsure as she hauled the third science machine to the table. “Are you sure? You look like you could use a hand.”

“I could,” she allowed, turning to go back to the elevator. “But See Explanation under Jane: Astrophysicist-splosion.”

She reached the elevator and the last two Important Science Things sitting there, and reached for one. At least it was just these five and not the entire lab that Tony was getting ready to duplicate. 

Darcy lifted the Important Science Thing and stood, turning to head back to the table, only to find Tony there behind her, picking up the final Important Science Thing.

“Dude,” she said warningly.

Tony shrugged the Thing up into his arms. “It’s not heavy,” he protested, then gave her a smirk. “I’m stronger than I look.”

It wasn’t a very long walk from the elevator to the table, but there was enough time for Darcy to wonder where the notoriously selfish Tony Stark had gone. Who was this man carrying an expensive and irreplaceable prototype Multiverse Collision Detector or Whatever, and why was he doing it?

He was doing it so that she wouldn’t have to.

“There,” he said, setting it next to the other machines on the table. “Everything is fine; nothing is ruined.”

Darcy shrugged and set her Science Doodad on the table. “Thanks for the help,” she began.

At that moment, she thought she heard the tiny sound of a tiny screw falling from a tiny space on the inside of the thing Tony had just carried over.

Her eyes got huge.

“But Jane’s gonna murdelize you,” she finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/172171782693/good-intentions)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	2. Double Meaning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy's sending some signals, but Tony's not completely sure what they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 23\. “I’ll wait.”

Tony was annoyed. 

The bots were being uncooperative. His music wasn't loud enough. He had spent six hours (when it should only have taken one) hunting down the last lingering bug in his newest pet project. He was hot. He needed a shower. He wanted a cup of coffee.

And in walked Darcy Lewis.

In her hand was a clipboard holding the most recent corporate whatever that Pepper had been after him to sign; he knew, because he recognized it. He'd been ignoring its presence on his desk for days, after all. He sort of wished Pepper had never hired Darcy to boss him around, but he had to admit that she got things done. Even if they weren’t things he thought should get done.

"Hey," she said, hefting herself onto a desk as she raised her voice to be heard over the music. "Got a minute?"

"Not for  _ that _ ," Tony replied, lying back on the creeper and rolling under the machine he'd  _ just about _ finished.

Darcy didn't reply, so Tony's scowl at the reason for her presence was wasted on the machine, which didn't care how he was feeling.

When he emerged, she was swinging her legs, looking out the window, unconcerned with his attitude.

He couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't be overly 'disturbed troll under bridge,' so he just stared at her, trying not to make it a glare.

"What's the deal with you two, anyway?" Darcy asked eventually, slipping down off her perch and holding out the paperwork.

Tony shook his head at it. "Me and Pepper?” he asked instead. “What's my facebook status say?"

"I haven't checked recently," Darcy replied. "But I would guess either 'it's complicated' or 'single and ready to mingle.' I just thought I'd get it straight from the horse's mouth."

"Maybe I'm too aggravating to be in a serious relationship," Tony said, repeating something Pepper had sighed at him recently.

"Maybe you are," she agreed coolly. “I recommend looking into changing your behavior if a serious relationship is something that’s important to you.”

"I'm not signing that," Tony told her. "I don't like to be handed things."

"That's why I'm putting it on the desk," she said, as she did just that.

Tony stared at her, not sure which conversation he wanted to continue, if any. "Probably safer to put it in 'it's complicated' territory. You know how these 'on again, off again' things can be," he said finally.

Darcy nodded sagely, and hopped back up onto the desk next to the paperwork. 

"I'll wait," she said.

Tony wasn't sure whether she was talking about the paperwork or him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/172254678663/double-meaning)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	3. Because I Want To, Not Because You Told Me To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony does what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 29\. “Well, what do you want to do?”

It was hour 33.

Tony knew it was hour 33 because Darcy kept reminding him. And asking him to go to bed. "So much time without sleep isn't healthy, Tony," "You'll kill yourself and probably a few other people, Tony," "At least turn down the music, Tony," were all things he'd heard over and over in the last few hours, and  _ still _ Darcy wouldn't leave him alone.

"Just because  _ I _ 'm still awake against the advice of everyone who cares about me doesn't mean  _ you _ have to be," he told her finally.

"You're up, I'm up," she said stubbornly, another phrase he'd heard too many times recently. It made him feel good, and also kind of bad. But only a little. He went back to work.

He really only did it because he knew she didn't want him to. He'd finished the current stage of the project and would really have liked to run it by Banner or one of the guys from R&D before continuing. Not because he thought it wasn't perfect, but more because he'd been at it for too long and was too close to see anything that might not be. But Darcy was hounding him to go to bed, so he was finding more things to do. Tightening bolts. Dusting off metal shavings. Oiling random things.

"You know," she started in again, "I've read that if you can't go to sleep, you can at least lay down with your eyes closed for twenty minutes or so, just to let your body rest. And even that is better than nothing."

Tony rolled his eyes in reply.

"There's a couch downstairs," Darcy said, trying to make it sound enticing. "Maybe you could try it. Or we could go sit in the hot tub. Or, uh... make brownies? You like my brownies, right?"

"I guess," he admitted. But he wasn't going to admit how good the hot tub sounded. Especially the hot tub with brownies. He put down the screwdriver he'd been fiddling with. "Well... what do you want to do?"

He could tell Darcy was trying not to look too excited about the fact that her plan seemed to be working.

"I suppose I could bring the ingredients up to the penthouse. That way we could smell the brownies  _ from _ the hot tub, so they won't burn."

Tony nodded. The last time they'd hot tubbed in the Avengers' gym, which was too far from the common kitchen. By the time they remembered the brownies, they'd been burned badly enough that Tony hadn't been able to eat the edges, which were his favorite part.

"I don't hate that plan," he said, and more excited hope hit Darcy's face. "But is that it?"

"Sure," Darcy shrugged. "I've got a book, you can relax, and then we'll have brownies."

He sighed, not wanting her to think he'd given in until the last possible moment. "Well, all right," he conceded, "but only because I want to, not because you told me to."

Darcy grinned a grin that told Tony that she knew that wasn't true. "Oh, of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/172419806468/because-i-want-to-not-because-you-told-me-to)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	4. Motivation and Manipulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy indulges Tony. But only a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 30\. “One more chapter.”

Tony was not asleep.

It was kind of infuriating.

Darcy was sure that if she left him to get some sleep of her own, he would make a beeline straight to the lab, no matter how blissful he looked at the moment: head tilted back, eyes closed, brownie crumbs at the corner of his mouth.

She sighed and shot a look at the romance novel she'd been using to keep awake through the slumber-inducing tactics she was using on Tony. She was near the end of the chapter, so maybe now would be a good time...?

Darcy bit her lip and stood up, the water swishing around her hips. She was going to be a prune for days. 

She had nearly made it to the stairs when: "Where do you think you're going?"

When she turned, Tony was gazing at her out of his one open eye.

"I was... going to get a glass of water?" Darcy attempted.

"Mmhmmn," Tony intoned, closing his eye again. "You're just Brownies-and-Hot-Tubbing me into bed; you don't actually want to be here."

Darcy frowned. It  _ was _ true that her grandma's brownie recipe and the way-too-hot hot tub were just means to a sleepy scientist end, but that didn't mean that she would rather have been somewhere else. Well, other than her bed. Asleep. Not lying awake worried that Tony would pass out on top of something important in the lab and accidentally burn the place down.

She glared at him and sat back down in the scalding water. "One more chapter," she told him, and reopened her book.

Tony smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/172447489923/motivation-and-manipulation)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	5. Emergency Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Tony discuss possible inevitabilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 44\. “I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

Tony had woken bright and late, refreshed and ready to work. He came to in his own bed, with Darcy nowhere to be seen, but it was unlikely he had gotten where he was without her magic. Briefly, he wondered if she'd doctored the brownies, but since she'd eaten them too...

About five hours later, he began feeling a little peckish. He wouldn't have said no to a cup of coffee, either. His project was going well, but hadn't yet hit the stride of "going too well to eat, sleep, or breathe," so he wiped his hands on a rag and stepped back, considering what he wanted.

Before he could quite pin down what exactly that might be, the elevator doors swooshed open and Darcy sauntered in with a plate of leftover brownies, a cup of coffee, and a clipboard under her arm.

"Is that for me?" Tony wanted to know.

"Some of it," Darcy replied, setting the brownies and coffee within his reach.

"That's what I like to see," he said, giving the clipboard the stink-eye and seizing the coffee.

"Better me than you, right?"

Tony made a noise of agreement from inside the coffee cup.

Darcy snagged a brownie and stuck it into her mouth before she pulled a stool over to the lab bench and bent over whatever paperwork had been inflicted on her.

"What is it?" Tony asked. Small talk was permitted during snack time.

"In-Case-of-Emergency stuff," she told him, scribbling something.

Tony frowned. "Don't you have to fill that out when you start working here?"

Darcy hummed an affirmative. "This is extra stuff HR just decided we need. Y'know, those of us who work in higher-risk areas, like the labs which could explode at any moment without warning." 

She gave him a look which warned him against trying anything of the sort. Tony replied with an 'it wasn't me! I swear!' shrug and returned to his coffee.

"Emergency contact..." Darcy muttered, tapping her pen on her lip.

"When the labs blow up?" Tony mused, taking another sip of coffee. "I'll drive you to the hospital."

Darcy laughed. " _ You _ can't be my emergency contact," she told him. "This is for someone to come identify my mangled corpse, who would be willing to make sure the random leg with a freckle on the ankle was mine. If I was that exploded, you'd probably be, too." 

After considering for another moment (and while Tony was still slightly horrified), Darcy decided: "My cousin in Jersey is probably best for this. That way my gran could get the news secondhand and get some time to cool down before she started funeral plans, plus Alexis could scam my iPod, if it wasn't in as many pieces as I would be."

Tony cleared his throat. "Do I... need to fill one of those out?"

Darcy stopped scratching on the clipboard and looked at him, both eyebrows raised in surprise. "You're asking to fill out paperwork? God, if I'd known that, I would have filled mine out before I did yours."

Tony returned to the coffee cup, but it was empty. "Who's my emergency contact?" he asked.

"Me," Darcy said, as she finished the form and signed at the bottom.

"But I thought you said—"

"You're going to be in a lot more 'possibility of being blown to bits' situations than I am," she explained. "And I'm not the  _ only _ one. I'm actually at the bottom of the list."

"There's a list?"

"Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, then me. They'll call us all at once, but I figured it'd be good to have a bunch of us on there just to increase the chances that no matter where all of us are, somebody can get to you within a couple hours, at least."

Tony wrinkled his nose at the topic and grabbed a brownie. "How come you didn't put anything in these?" he muttered.

"Huh?"

"I said I'm glad we're prepared," he told her, raising his voice loud enough for her to hear.

Darcy nodded and stood, heading for the elevator, presumably to turn in her paperwork.

"Hey, uh, Darcy?" Tony called, when the elevator doors opened for her.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being my emergency contact."

She grinned at him. "No problem."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/172926299598/emergency-contact)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	6. Intent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony attempts to be sneaky, but Darcy sees right through him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50\. “I think you’re beautiful.”

"Hot date?" Darcy asked. 

Tony jumped; he hadn't known she was there.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, with the board of directors. Wanna come with? Get you some hot middle aged white dude action?"

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, okay, maybe a quarter of them are old white dudes. But you'd have your pick of rich impressives. The chairperson especially; she started her own company right out of Spelman and has told me personally that she only goes in for sassy assistants of multi millionaires whose boards she chairs."

"Struck out with her, did you?"

"Every time," Tony assured her with a grin.

She watched while he turned back to his primping.

He waited for her to ask.

But she didn't.

He asked her to hand him his tie.

She handed it over without a word.

He asked her opinion on the watch he'd chosen.

She told him it was a little ostentatious, but didn't offer any other commentary.

"And the hair? How's the hair?"

"I think you're beautiful, Tony," she told him, deadpan.

It didn't  _ sound _ like a flattering compliment. So what if he was going to a board meeting and wanted to look his best? Just because he normally avoided that kind of thing like a gold-digging ex, it didn't mean that he couldn't get spruced up and attend a gathering that would likely have an impact on the future of his company. And so what if there was a good chance Pepper was going to be there? It wasn't 100%. The latest intelligence (from Happy) was that she was probably too busy to fly to Manhattan, maybe even too busy to video conference in. He was just going to represent the team. That was all.

"You want me to get any phone numbers for you?" he asked, as he stepped into his shoes.

"Maybe make sure the chair is single first before you go trying to set her up with me. Or anybody, really."

"Huh," Tony considered. "I never thought of that."

Darcy gave him an unsurprised look. "I'm gonna go ahead and have the bots run diagnostics while you're gone, if that's cool."

"Sure, yeah, just don't let DUM-E touch anything on the table."

"Which table?" 

"Any of them," he said, and gave a little wave before heading for the elevators.

"Tony," Darcy called as he stepped on.

"Yes, darling?" he called back.

"Say hi to Pepper for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173265025403/intent)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	7. Plot Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disgruntled Tony returns to the lab to discover an annoyed and decked out Darcy.
> 
> And a plot twist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 62\. “It can wait until tomorrow.”

A slightly disappointed Tony trudged into the elevator to head back up to the lab. Yes, Pepper had been at the board meeting, and yes, he had disrupted things  _ a little _ , but she had merely smiled and welcomed him quietly before getting the meeting started. It was like she knew he'd be there. And her unflappability had a calming effect on the members of the board. The chairwoman even laughed when she rolled her eyes at him and told him she didn't need his help with her love life.

When the doors opened into his lab, he reflected that he may as well have stayed there; none of his anticipated mischief had been satisfying. At least he had gotten to see Pepper. She looked good. Healthy. Happy that her daily life didn't currently include him? He hadn't worked up the courage to ask her about their relationship status.

_ I should probably check her facebook page, _ he thought as he strolled into his lair.

"DUM-E! NO!" 

Darcy was shouting. Darcy shouting. That made Tony smile. 

"Put it  _ down _ ," she admonished, as Tony shed his jacket, hung it from a nearby monitor, and took in the scene.

DUM-E seemed to be in the process of lifting one of Foster's delicate inventions—an original, not one of Tony's fabrications. Darcy was standing there, hands on her hips, scowling. That in itself was not so amazing. Darcy scowled all the time in Tony's lab. Usually at him. What  _ was _ interesting was her outfit. She was wearing a long sleeved dress with a low cut bodice, and it hugged all her curves.

Tony approved. (Of the dress, not of DUM-E's shenanigans.)

"Hot date?" he asked, as soon as the offending robot had slinked off into the corner to atone for its crimes.

Darcy jumped; she obviously hadn't heard him come in.

"Uh, yeah, actually," she said, blushing.  _ Blushing? Since when did Darcy blush? _ "I was just waiting to leave until you got back. How was the board meeting? Everything you hoped for?"

Tony waved a hand. “It can wait until tomorrow; I don't want to keep you from your plans."

Darcy nodded. "Right." She fidgeted with the end of a sleeve, obviously waiting for him to ask more questions, but he was pretty sure that would have put her back in her comfort zone, and Uncomfortable Darcy wasn't something he got to see very often.

So he just smiled serenely at her.

"Okay, so, well, you're back now, so I'm gonna go," she said, stepping gingerly around him in her kitten heels.

He watched her walk to the elevator, and could tell by the set of her shoulders that she was aware he was still observing her.

"Oh," he called, as the doors swooshed open and Darcy stepped inside. "I just realized: I forgot to tell Pepper hi for you."

"That's okay," Darcy said nervously, hitting the button for the lobby. As the doors closed, she called, "I can tell her myself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/173516082403/plot-twist)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	8. The Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy tiptoes back to the Tower in the wee hours and goes to find Tony (to make sure he's sleeping, of course).
> 
> But he finds her first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 79\. “I’ll still be here when you’re ready.”

The penthouse was dark when Darcy silently entered. She hoped that Tony was asleep; it was late, she was disheveled, and she didn't want to ask the AI where he was, because if he asked if  _ she _ had asked about his whereabouts, it would tell him. And it would tell him  _ when _ she'd asked. 

And then he'd  _ know _ .

Of course, if she had to schlep down to the lab to drag him to bed, he'd know anyway, so the "sneaking in to creepily watch him sleep" option was best case scenario.

She tiptoed over to the bedroom and slowly peeked inside. The room was dark. Quiet.

Empty.

Darcy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It definitely didn't look as nice as it had when she'd left... She dug around in her bag for her lipstick as she headed out to the elevator. Maybe pristine lips would distract him from making comments on other points of her attire.

She called the elevator, then used the shiny chrome surface of the doors as a mirror to perfect her makeup. Her lips became perfectly kissable just as the elevator doors opened, and she was face to face with Tony.

She opened her mouth to say something (she didn't know what).

He ran his eyes over her, appreciatively, like he had in the lab earlier.

"I was just coming down to get you," she told him, as his gaze turned  _ knowing _ . "I was hoping you were already in bed, which is why I came here first."

"Because you didn't want me to see your post-date look," he said, because of course. "I like your hair; where'd you get it done? That salon... what's it called?  _ Well-Fucked _ ?"

"I am not discussing this," Darcy told him, unable to keep from blushing. She stepped into the elevator and pushed him out of it, giving him a shove toward his bedroom.

"Pepper doesn't look it, but she's definitely a hair puller. Especially when you—"

" _ Tony _ ," Darcy protested, interrupting the the rest of his sentence. It wasn't like she needed him to  _ say _ it; she had just experienced it, after all.

"How did that happen anyway?" Tony asked, leaning on the open elevator doors to prevent them from closing. "You and Pepper. If you don't mind me asking."

It took her a second to realize he was asking about their relationship and not the logistics of their post-dinner hotel activities. "We... talk a lot. I keep her updated on you. And your work. We started flirting a while ago. I made sure you two weren't a thing before I asked her out."

Tony raised his eyebrow. "So you've been dating." He swirled an index finger at her after-sex outfit. "First date?"

"First one in person," she told him. "Skype is a thing."

"And I had no idea that sexy Skyping was going on under my very nose." He sounded amused, not betrayed, which Darcy was relieved about. "I mean, I knew you were interested in  _ somebody _ , but like an idiot, I thought it was  _ me _ ."

Oh, she and Pepper had  _ had _ that conversation. At length. Both before she was hired to babysit Tony and again after she and Pepper got serious.

So Darcy smirked and said, "How do you know it's not both?"

Tony flinched like she'd flicked water in his face. "Trying to sweet talk won't throw me off, Lewis," he told her, then stood to free the elevator doors. "You stole my girlfriend."

Darcy's jaw dropped; had he  _ missed _ the fact that she had just admitted…? “No, I—”

"I'm going to bed," Tony interrupted, backing away slowly with both hands in his pockets. "I'll still be here when you're ready. To apologize."

The look on his face was amused but otherwise unreadable, but when the elevator doors closed in her face, Darcy could see exactly how confused  _ she  _ looked.

She stared at her reflection for a few seconds, deliberating, then hit the button for her floor and pulled out her phone to call in for backup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/174086826143/the-fallout)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	9. All or Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy apologizes to Tony. And then Pepper arrives. To talk about Them. _Them_ them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 86\. “You’re important too.”

Darcy wasn't aware that Tony could hear her take a deep breath to calm her nerves before she stepped into his apartment. The AI had warned him she was on her way up, like he'd asked it to, and he was fully aware that watching her on the surveillance cameras was cheating, but it was worth it. Watching her secret nervousness made him feel good, which was a different feeling than when he watched her sneaking into his place the night before. 

That feeling was a good one too, but more conflicted. Sexy Darcy, slinking toward his bed in the dead of night? Very yes. Sexy Darcy, slinking toward his bed in the dead of night, after just having crawled out of Pepper's bed? Hmm.

Darcy took a second fortifying breath before knocking.

"Let her in," Tony told the AI before it could ask.

"Tony?" Darcy called.

"Yes, dear?" he called back.

"I'm sorry I stole your girlfriend," she told his back.

Tony turned, a skeptical eyebrow raised. "Is this one of those 'I'm apologizing because you told me to but I don't really meant it' things? Because it feels like one of those things."

Darcy shifted her weight. "I am apologizing because you told me to, but I do mean it. There were communication issues that should have been addressed, and I'm sorry I didn't push for more open discussion before... Before."

"Apology accepted," Tony told her, not sure it was the truth. He toasted her with his coffee anyway. "Mazel tov."

"Okay, but that's not everything I wanted to say," Darcy said, darting out to take his arm before he could reach the table where his frittata was waiting.

"Breakfast?" he reminded her, gesturing with the coffee.

"Can it wait?" she asked. 

"I don't know, can it? Have you ever had a cold frittata?"

Darcy dropped his arm and stepped back. She looked hurt, and contrite. And he'd wanted that. The contrition, not the hurt. "Fine," she said. "I understand if you're still mad. I just... you're important too, Tony. I need you to know that."

"Am I?"

Her brows knit as she looked up at him. "Of course you are. Why do you think I'm here? If I didn't care about you, why would I take the time to check how you felt? Why would I lay awake all night thinking about it?"

"Well, I assume the lying awake all night was because—"

"Tony," Darcy cut him off with her hand over his mouth. "Are you going to keep acting like a jerk and refusing to acknowledge what I said last night?"

He watched her watch him, and tried to decide how he wanted to answer. Finally, he leaned back a little and said, "You mean the part where you said you had feelings for me."

She didn't seem angry, just apprehensive. Tony wasn't sure he'd said the  _ right _ thing, but he was pretty certain he hadn't said the  _ wrong _ thing.

He put his coffee down. "I acknowledged it."

"But you don't want to talk about it."

"Not really."

"Why not?" asked a new voice.

Pepper was suddenly in his kitchen. Because of course she was. Tony spread his hands. "What's there to talk about?"

"Well," she said with a small smile, holding her hand out to Darcy. "What comes next, perhaps?"

Darcy greeted her with a chaste kiss and a quiet, "You're late," as she wrapped her arm around Pepper's waist. 

Pepper continued to watch Tony. "Any ideas?"

"A few," Tony said. None he could say out loud. Or maybe he could...? "Why are you here, Pepper?"

"Because Darcy wants me to be," she replied. "I should've come to talk to you sooner. About us, and about... us." She glanced at Darcy.

"And about  _ us _ ," Darcy added, indicating all three of them. Together.

_ Together _ ?

Tony blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, my brain just short-circuited. Did you mean 'us' as in,  _ us _ ?"

"I'm sorry for the things I said the last time we talked," Pepper told him, disengaging from Darcy and stepping forward to cradle his face in her hands. "Darcy... helped me put things in perspective. She helped me remember why, against all my better judgement, I fell in love with you."

"I don't get it," Tony said, even though it, or something like it, was what he'd wanted to hear her say for months. "Are we on again?"

"Only if you want to be," she said. "But not without Darcy."

Tony stepped away. "I need to think about it."

"Okay," Pepper said, a little sadness in her eyes to go along with the understanding. She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss, then turned to walk out of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I stole your girlfriend," Darcy said again when she was gone.

"What about my eggs?" Tony asked. "Are you sorry about them? You get Pepper, and I get a cold frittata and an all or nothing situation."

Darcy stepped a little closer to him, apprehensively. "I really am sorry."

Tony nodded.

"Can I..." She bit her lip. "Can I make a case for the 'all' option?"

"Huh?"

It wasn't like Darcy had never touched him before, but there was nothing casual about her hand on his cheek, or her other hand, which she curled over his shoulder and around his neck.

"Are we really doing this?" he asked as her face moved closer to his.

"Not if you don't want to," she said.

Tony closed his eyes.

And Darcy kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/174467765168/all-or-nothing)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	10. Girls’ Night + Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Pepper try to distract themselves with a movie while they wait for Tony to come to a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 87\. “I saved you a seat.”

Darcy nestled in against Pepper with a worried sigh and ignored the movie they had put on to distract themselves.

"You really didn't go to his lab all day?" Pepper asked.

Darcy shook her head. "I thought it'd be weird, or he'd think I was trying to annoy him for an answer, or something. Jane didn't know what to do with me; I didn't realize how much time I'd been spending with him." She played with the fringe at the bottom of Pepper's shirt. "How come you didn't tell me he was such a good kisser?"

Pepper smiled and pulled Darcy closer. "It's really something you need to experience for yourself," she said.

"Like,  _ really _ good," Darcy continued. "You're an amazing kisser, babe, but Tony is just... ugh. Ridiculous."

"Right?" Pepper agreed.

"I kinda wanted to stay up there and kiss him all day."

"Talking about me?" came a familiar voice from behind them.

"Always," Pepper replied, as Darcy turned to spot Tony in the doorway. Pepper was smiling serenely like she had been in the kitchen that morning, but Darcy couldn't share her optimism. Pretty much everything was on the line, here. Her life, her job, her happiness... everything hinged on what Tony would do next.

He opened the refrigerator.

He said, "Did Wilson drink all the orange juice  _ again _ ?"

Life-shattering. 

Darcy slumped back onto Pepper's shoulder again.

"Tony," Pepper scolded.

"What?" He grinned a grin that said he knew exactly what he was doing, and he didn't have any plans to stop.

Pepper sighed and shook her head, smiling a long-suffering smile. "Just ignore him," she advised, turning her back.

"No," Darcy said, eyeing Tony's self-confident body language. There was no way he would be acting like that if he didn't plan to join them. "I've got a better idea."

Pepper squeaked in surprise, then moaned into Darcy's kiss. A few moments later when they looked up, Tony was standing there next to the couch, watching with hungry eyes.

"Would you mind?" Pepper asked, a little of that shit-eating grin appearing on her face. "You're blocking the TV."

"Didn't look to me like you were paying much attention to the movie," he replied. "Is there any room on that couch for me, or is this Girls' Night?"

Darcy tried not to let any of her nervousness show as she leaned away from Pepper and patted the space between them. "I saved you a seat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/174500672183/girls-night-tony)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


	11. Pepper Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Tony conspire to throw a surprise party for Pepper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I love you.”

"So then you bring her upstairs—do kiss her in the elevator, but not  _ too _ much, don't, y'know, take her skirt off or anything—and then when you turn the lights on, everybody jumps out from behind the couch, and it's cake and champagne for all."

Tony laughed. "This is perfect. You're perfect. I haven't been able to get her since we got together."

"You mean, since you actually started paying attention to when her birthday was?" Darcy asked with a sly grin.

"I knew when it was before that," Tony lied. "I got her a dress one year."

"More like you wanted to get her out of it," Darcy snarked.

"You would have too if you'd seen it," Tony told her, snagging the hem of her sweater and tugging her over so that he could run his hands underneath her shirt and up her back by way of demonstration. "It showed off everything from here... to here."

"Think she'd do a little fashion show for me?" Darcy breathed, focusing on Tony's lips as they moved closer to hers.

"She might still have it laying around somewhere," Tony replied. "You could ask."

"Maybe I'll do that," Darcy whispered.

A few minutes, later, there was an amused sigh. "Do the two of you actually do any work up here?" Pepper asked.

Darcy jumped and covered her front, unaware both that there was anyone else in the room and that she had lost her shirt.

"Sometimes," Tony said, unashamed. "Can you blame me?"

Pepper ran her eyes over Darcy. "Not really. I'd get just as distracted if I had her in my work space."

Darcy got lost in a momentary daydream about Pepper  _ having her _ in her work space. She tuned back into the conversation when she heard her name.

"Are you  _ sure _ Jane needs you the  _ whole _ trip?"

"Hey," Tony said, nudging Pepper's hip. "She can't help it. The lecture tour's been on the books for longer than we've been together."

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from being disappointed that I can't have both my favorite people with me on my birthday."

"I'm sorry," Darcy said, pulling her sweater on when Tony handed it to her. "I know I'll be late, but the three of us can celebrate your birthday the next day."

Pepper sighed and carded her fingers through Tony's hair. "Okay. But you'd better bring me a present."

"Is wearing nothing but a big bow going to cut it or am I going to have to go all out with the Swiss chocolate?"

"Both?" Pepper said with a grin.

"Wait, is that a sex thing?" Tony wanted to know.

"No," Darcy told him. "And I wouldn't mix them, either. I think both the sex and the chocolate deserve more attention; I'd end up ignoring one or the other if I tried to enjoy both at the same time."

"Well, I don't have any chocolate right now, and since you two aren't actually doing any work anyway..." Pepper said, winking suggestively.

"I am the luckiest man alive," Tony said for the eighth time that day.

* * *

"Pepp—Pepp— _ Pepper _ ," Darcy heard Tony moan when the elevator doors opened. "Should we wait until we get inside, at least?"

"That's never stopped you before," Pepper replied in her you-know-you-want-me voice. Darcy loved hearing that voice. Just maybe not along with all the people she and Tony had gathered for Pepper's surprise party. "I was kind of expecting my skirt to already be off at this point, at least."

"Okay, time for bed," Tony decided, swinging open the door to the penthouse.

"Mm, I thought you'd never ask," Pepper said, kissing him as he walked her backward into the apartment.

Rhodey did Pepper a solid by choosing that moment to step out of the dining room and set off his noisemaker, which cued the AI to turn on the lights, and everyone else to jump out of hiding and yell, "SURPRISE!!"

Pepper gasped in astonishment, a smile blooming on her face and a look in her eye to let Tony know she'd seen through his ruse, and he'd get it later.

"Oh my god! You guys!" Pepper exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"

She fielded congratulations from various guests while Tony went off to fetch her a drink. Clint gave Darcy a strange look as he accepted a thank you hug from Pepper, but Darcy waved him off, warning him with her expression not to ruin the surprise. 

Tony returned, offering Pepper her libation and leaning in to kiss her temple. "Happy birthday, Pepper," he murmured.

"A surprise party, Tony?" Pepper sounded amused. "You finally managed to pull it off."

"I had help," Tony said modestly. "Darcy did most of the work."

Darcy peeked out from her hiding spot in time to see Pepper sigh sadly. "If only—" she began.

"If only what?" Tony asked, putting his arm around Pepper and pulling her attention to himself so that Darcy could make her appearance perfectly. "You think I'd go to all the trouble to get all your friends here to celebrate your birthday and then  _ not _ get you what you really wanted?"

Then he turned, gesturing with a flourish to where Darcy stood, just behind them.

"Surprise," Darcy told her.

The look on Pepper's face was  _ almost _ as good as the kiss she gave Darcy. Definitely worth the little bit of guilt she'd still had about not telling Pepper she was able to get an earlier flight home. Jane would probably forget an important thingamabob in the hotel without Darcy there to remind her to repack it, but she didn't even care.

"This is the best birthday I've ever had," Pepper told them both. "Thank you!" She pulled Tony into their hug, and he laughed and put his arms around each of their waists.

Darcy was pretty perfectly happy.

And then Pepper kissed her again, and said, "I love you."

"Hey!" Rhodey called from across the room. "You gonna come cut this cake so the rest of us can have some?"

Pepper laughed. "Be right there!" She kissed Tony, gave Darcy a brilliant smile, and went to see to her guests.

Darcy was still standing in a dazed stupor when Tony helpfully pinched her arm.

"That's serious, you know," he told her. "It means she wants to marrrry you..."

"Quit," she advised, knocking him with her hip to stop the teasing. "I think that's the first time somebody's said that to me."

Tony frowned. "What, in your life?" 

"No." Darcy rolled her eyes. "I meant romantically. I mean, sure, I had relationships in high school and stuff, and I've gotten that fluttery feeling, but does it count when you're fifteen?"

"Not if it isn't real," Tony told her, and pulled her closer. "Let's check."

"Wha—?" Darcy began to ask, but Tony tilted his head down to kiss her, then ran his eyes over her face like he wouldn't mind doing it every day for the rest of his life.

"I love you," he told her. "How's that? Fluttery?"

"No, it—you... love me?"

"I love you," Tony repeated.

"I think... I love you too," Darcy said, nervous to actually be saying the words out loud.

"I know you do," he replied smugly.

"No you don't," Darcy accused, smacking him. "I just said it."

"I knew it before. You don't actually have to say the words, you know. You tell me all the time, in different ways."

"How?" Darcy demanded, still skeptical. She spotted Pepper maneuvering toward them carrying a huge slice of cake.

"Let's see:" Tony said, and began to list things off on his fingers. "You still let me think I'm in charge when actually you are, you put me to bed when I'm strung out on too much science, you... make sure I get all my paperwork done no matter how much I don't want to do it, and you asked me to be a part of this... thing," he gestured toward Pepper, and reached out to take the cake from her when she got close enough to put her arms around Darcy again. "You didn't have to do that. You don't have to do any of it. That's how I know you love me."

"You're  _ here _ ," Pepper said, kissing Darcy. "That's how I know you love  _ me _ ."

Darcy laughed. "At least Tony let me  _ say _ it first!"

Pepper paused, her eyes widening. "Wait, what?"

"I love you, happy birthday?"

"Oh my god," Pepper laughed happily. "I really do think this is the best birthday ever!"

Tony winked at her. "Just wait until you see what we have planned for the afterparty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The AfterParty](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12264060/chapters/28434232)
> 
> [Reblog on tumblr](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com/post/174542924538/pepper-party)
> 
> Tumblr: [catrinasl](http://catrinasl.tumblr.com)
> 
> Twitter: [@Catrina_SL](http://twitter.com/Catrina_SL)


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